Purpose: Previous research suggests that variations in health-related quality of patients with cardiovascular disease cannot be fully explained on the basis of their clinical status. This discrepancy raises the possibility that psychosocial factors might account for the unexplained variability in quality of life. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between a sense of personal control and quality of life in chronic heart failure. Framework: The framework for the study was derived from a conceptual model of adherence and quality of life in chronic illness. In the model, quality of life is conceptualized as a multidimensional construct that includes physical functioning, role functioning, social functioning, and emotional state. Psychosocial resources (sense of personal control) are proposed to moderate the deleterious life quality consequences of chronic illness. Because there has been debate on whether feelings of personal control decline in later adulthood, the association of age and control was also of interest. Methods: A cross-sectional survey design was used for this exploratory correlational study. Data were obtained from 76 women (aged 21 - 80 years, mean left ventricular ejection fraction 29%) who were attending a heart failure clinic. The standardized instruments to measure quality of life were scales from the Medical Outcomes Questionnaire Short Form-36 (MOS-SF-36), Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire (LHFQ), and Profile of Mood States Scale (POMS). Personal control, assessed as control over one's life in general, was measured by the Mastery Scale (Pearlin & Schooler's, 1978). Results: No relationship was found between left ventricular ejection fraction and quality of life. Correlations (Spearman's rho) significant at the .001 level (2-tailed) were found between personal control and quality of life variables. A positive relationship was found between personal control and MOS-SF-36 physical functioning (r = .47), role functioning (r = .47), and social functioning (r = .48). Conversely, personal control showed a negative correlation with heart failure specific quality of life impairment (r = -.63, p < .001). Personal control was inversely associated with emotional distress (r = -.61). No significant relationship was found between personal control and age. Conclusions: Findings of this study are consistent with other evidence suggesting that personal control is an important psychosocial resource for adaptation to illness. These findings suggest that future research be aimed at testing the impact of interventions designed to enhance patients' perceptions of control.

Repository Posting Date:

27-Oct-2011

Date of Publication:

27-Oct-2011

Conference Date:

2002

Conference Name:

14th Annual Scientific Sessions

Conference Host:

Eastern Nursing Research Society

Conference Location:

University Park, Pennsylvania, USA

Note:

This is an abstract-only submission. If the author has submitted a full-text item based on this abstract, you may find it by browsing the Virginia Henderson Global Nursing e-Repository by author. If author contact information is available in this abstract, please feel free to contact him or her with your queries regarding this submission. Alternatively, please contact the conference host, journal, or publisher (according to the circumstance) for further details regarding this item. If a citation is listed in this record, the item has been published and is available via open-access avenues or a journal/database subscription. Contact your library for assistance in obtaining the as-published article.

Full metadata record

DC Field

Value

Language

dc.type.category

Abstract

en_US

dc.type

Presentation

en_GB

dc.title

Sense of personal control and quality of life in women with chronic heart failure

Purpose: Previous research suggests that variations in health-related quality of patients with cardiovascular disease cannot be fully explained on the basis of their clinical status. This discrepancy raises the possibility that psychosocial factors might account for the unexplained variability in quality of life. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between a sense of personal control and quality of life in chronic heart failure. Framework: The framework for the study was derived from a conceptual model of adherence and quality of life in chronic illness. In the model, quality of life is conceptualized as a multidimensional construct that includes physical functioning, role functioning, social functioning, and emotional state. Psychosocial resources (sense of personal control) are proposed to moderate the deleterious life quality consequences of chronic illness. Because there has been debate on whether feelings of personal control decline in later adulthood, the association of age and control was also of interest. Methods: A cross-sectional survey design was used for this exploratory correlational study. Data were obtained from 76 women (aged 21 - 80 years, mean left ventricular ejection fraction 29%) who were attending a heart failure clinic. The standardized instruments to measure quality of life were scales from the Medical Outcomes Questionnaire Short Form-36 (MOS-SF-36), Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire (LHFQ), and Profile of Mood States Scale (POMS). Personal control, assessed as control over one's life in general, was measured by the Mastery Scale (Pearlin & Schooler's, 1978). Results: No relationship was found between left ventricular ejection fraction and quality of life. Correlations (Spearman's rho) significant at the .001 level (2-tailed) were found between personal control and quality of life variables. A positive relationship was found between personal control and MOS-SF-36 physical functioning (r = .47), role functioning (r = .47), and social functioning (r = .48). Conversely, personal control showed a negative correlation with heart failure specific quality of life impairment (r = -.63, p < .001). Personal control was inversely associated with emotional distress (r = -.61). No significant relationship was found between personal control and age. Conclusions: Findings of this study are consistent with other evidence suggesting that personal control is an important psychosocial resource for adaptation to illness. These findings suggest that future research be aimed at testing the impact of interventions designed to enhance patients' perceptions of control.

en_GB

dc.date.available

2011-10-27T11:10:12Z

-

dc.date.issued

2011-10-27

en_GB

dc.date.accessioned

2011-10-27T11:10:12Z

-

dc.conference.date

2002

en_US

dc.conference.name

14th Annual Scientific Sessions

en_US

dc.conference.host

Eastern Nursing Research Society

en_US

dc.conference.location

University Park, Pennsylvania, USA

en_US

dc.description.note

This is an abstract-only submission. If the author has submitted a full-text item based on this abstract, you may find it by browsing the Virginia Henderson Global Nursing e-Repository by author. If author contact information is available in this abstract, please feel free to contact him or her with your queries regarding this submission. Alternatively, please contact the conference host, journal, or publisher (according to the circumstance) for further details regarding this item. If a citation is listed in this record, the item has been published and is available via open-access avenues or a journal/database subscription. Contact your library for assistance in obtaining the as-published article.

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